Marian Mountain's Puppetry & Zen Meditation

I have had the wonderful opportunity to learn about my late grandmother's puppeteer days through letters we wrote back and forth.  She enclosed old photographs of her performing, and even one of her and Frank Oz in her earlier days at the Children's Fairyland Puppet Fair- the first major event hosted by the San Francisco Puppeteers Guild of America.    This is a photo of her performing Punch & Judy at a children's hospital with a cast of about a dozen characters- including a paraquet trained to sit on the pirates puppets shoulder!

The more I learn about her, the more I am in awe of her incredible journey.  She was a writer as well, having written many books about her journey becoming a Zen Buddhist.  She inspired me to have a 'beginners mind' in my art practice.  

The Zen Environment, The Impact of Zen Meditation - a lovely book that describes her life as one of the first students to practice Zen in America.